Konono No1 - "Tradi-Modern" - This shit is unreal

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i'll have beers with you anytime!

COME TO DADDY'S TONIGHT. NOISE DUDES BE DRINKING.

― Occam's Reznor (ex machina), Friday, 18 November 2005 22:24 (eighteen years ago) link

Perhaps the homemade equipment is not loud enough for the crowds that want to see them, and maybe the releases are just very loudly mastered recordings? And I doubt they'd fly all the way out here to play small art shacks -- where the homemade soundsystems would resonate best if that's the case.

I admit the show I saw didn't sound as "gritty" as the releases, but that's not the main reason I enjoy their music.. (different strokes, different folks, etc.)

― do knut (donut), Friday, 18 November 2005 22:33 (eighteen years ago) link

COME TO DADDY'S TONIGHT. NOISE DUDES BE DRINKING.

maybe. i'll see how i'm feeling in a little while (fuck a sinus infucktion). you should come out for my birthday drinks though, in TWO WEEKS.

― mimi in st. louis (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 18 November 2005 22:41 (eighteen years ago) link

http://www.tribute.ca/tribute_objects/images/movies/total_recall/totalrecall2.jpg

― Occam's Reznor (ex machina), Friday, 18 November 2005 22:50 (eighteen years ago) link

...and when I realized the piercing shriek that could have been a fork-in-a-guitar-pickup was just a tin whistle, I relaxed and enjoyed it for what it was. The leather jacket guy's DuPont hat got my attention. Don't they pump nuclear waste into the Congolese water supply? They do in Michigan.

― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Friday, 18 November 2005 23:15 (eighteen years ago) link

They cleared the cafeteria tables for the show at World Cafe Live. A man who looked like Wilford Brimley jogged in place, waving his hands and elbowing me and K. Harris throughout the set.

It sounded good, even though the acoustics of the space render almost anything sterile. It's an aural autoclave!

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Monday, 21 November 2005 16:49 (eighteen years ago) link

heya curmudgeon, are you going to the kennedy center tomorrow? i think my bandmate and i will probably be there. i keep meaning to say thanks for hipping me to the mulatu show - it was incredible, although the giant smiling picture of rev. sun myung moon did its best to weird me out.

― ZR (teenagequiet), Monday, 21 November 2005 17:00 (eighteen years ago) link

Yea, I will be there (with notepad as I am reviewing it). I missed the Mulatu show and it's interesting to hear that you liked it. A friend of mine who is real picky about acoustics went to the show and grumbled that it started late and did not sound good technically, so he left after a half an hour.

Jess Harvell said upthread that he's coming from Baltimore for the show, and I bet Konono fan Christopher Porter, from the Suburbs Are Killing Us blog and Jazztimes mag, will be there. Plus as I mentioned earlier, the usual assortment of tourists and senior citizens visiting the Kennedy Center to get some 'culture.'

― curmudgeon (Steve K), Monday, 21 November 2005 18:21 (eighteen years ago) link

i didn't really have any problems with the acoustics - m's vibraphone coulda been a little louder, but overall i thought the sound was just fine. it did start and end late, though, but that wasn't particularly unexpected. way fewer broken flowers-types there than i expected.

― ZR (teenagequiet), Monday, 21 November 2005 19:04 (eighteen years ago) link

I talked with Porter earlier, he's seeing K1 and BAUHAUS back to back.
There's a mindfuck for you.

Was anybody else at the Pub show?

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Monday, 21 November 2005 20:03 (eighteen years ago) link

I was at the Joe's Pub show. A lot different from SOB's right? I admire you if you actually made it down to dance. There wasn't much room but for 15-20 people down there. I had a nice table. Felt bad for all those guys standing in the back corner.

― Billy Pilgrim (Billy Pilgrim), Monday, 21 November 2005 20:18 (eighteen years ago) link

btw: is there anyone who could .zip this thing (viz. - any one of their albums and/or Congotronic) up and YSI it? I tried SLSK and the local record store (or at least the one I checked) doesn't have it.

― giboyeux (skowly), Monday, 21 November 2005 20:34 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't have access to it at work, but if you blog search "paradiso konono" you'll find several of the songs floating around

― Billy Pilgrim (Billy Pilgrim), Monday, 21 November 2005 20:57 (eighteen years ago) link

..."blog search?"

― giboyeux (skowly), Monday, 21 November 2005 22:39 (eighteen years ago) link

maybe put "paradiso konono and blog" into google

I am pretty sure that the Kennedy Center will be showing the Konono No. 1 Tuesday November 22 6 p.m. Eastern time free Milennium Stage show live on their website, and then archiving it for later viewing.

http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/millennium/

― curmudgeon (Steve K), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 03:44 (eighteen years ago) link

blogsearch.google.com

― Billy Pilgrim (Billy Pilgrim), Tuesday, 22 November 2005 12:41 (eighteen years ago) link

If you don't want to mess with parking near the K. Ctr. (or at the Center where it is $15!)..."The Foggy Bottom/George Washington Univ. Station (23rd and I) Metro stop in DC is the closest stop. From there it is a short walk via New Hampshire Avenue OR use the FREE Kennedy Center Shuttle (signs are towards the left as you exit the escalator). It departs every 15 minutes from 9:45 a.m.-midnight Monday-Friday..."

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 22 November 2005 12:44 (eighteen years ago) link

So I talked with the tour manager before the Kennedy Center show, and he told me that one of the megaphones got broken by the airline, and the other one was working during the early part of the tour till they blew it out. He also said they couldn't get visas for their dancers and some others, and that yes, they did not bring their home-made amps or mics, just their homemade pickups with the likembes, the congas, the rough-edged cymbal, and the cowbell like thing.

― curmudgeon (Steve K), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 06:39 (eighteen years ago) link

yeah i was wondering about that acutally. it didn't sound quite the way i was expecting though it was quite good. the whole kennedy center layout/vibe was wack as hell though.

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 07:19 (eighteen years ago) link

The atmosphere left alot to be desired. You should have run up front and gotten the dancing started! Actually, the ushers would have probably shooed you away. There were lots of ILXers and local critic types doing the indie-rock head nod. I once saw a New York based Brazilian forro group leap off that stage and march past a sitting, pretty staid crowd for their final song, with a drummer pounding away on a marching band style held drum. About 10 people followed him as he continued down the halls and outside onto the plaza. Everyone else just stayed there in their seats wondering what happened.

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 23 November 2005 13:56 (eighteen years ago) link

There were lots of ILXers and local critic types doing the indie-rock head nod.

soooooooooooo me.

― petesmith (plsmith), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 14:55 (eighteen years ago) link

That includes me much of the time last night.

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 23 November 2005 14:58 (eighteen years ago) link

oh yeah, three people in my row got up and tried to dance and were tut-tut'ed by the ushers. even after being told to show appreciation by dancing by the MC at the beginning. laaame. still, good show.

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 17:04 (eighteen years ago) link

btw zach, if yr reading, sorry if i seemed rude when you introduced yourself--i was rushing back to catch a train back to b-more for another show i had to cover last night. (a train i still ended up missing.)

― strongo hulkington's ghost (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 17:06 (eighteen years ago) link

oh yeah, don't worry about it - nice to meet you and steve though. i too was part of the cadre of bearded bobbing boys in the back. sort of a bummer about the mics/speakers, and the venue robbed a bit of the impact, but still a good show.

― ZR (teenagequiet), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 18:17 (eighteen years ago) link

The World Cafe Live! show wasn't bad! They took out the cafeteria tables! There was a small crowd, but it wasn't bad. The glowstick twirling ravers sucked. So did the Wilford Brimley character who insisted on jogging/dancing in front of me, regularly elbowing my chest to the beat! Exoticists/Orientalists = push since it was too cold for all cotton and sandals.

The band was great and v. charismatic. The NASCAR hats confused me.

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Wednesday, 23 November 2005 18:28 (eighteen years ago) link

four months pass...

Hey so, any other London ILM'ers going to their FREE gig tonight at Momo Bar off Regent Street tonight?

http://forum.resonancefm.com/viewtopic.php?t=1202

― Grapperjoozer, Wednesday, 5 April 2006 09:31 (eighteen years ago) link

If I make it back from work in time etc. I will def. go to this.

I have black hair, a beard and black glasses and will be looking lonesome as I'll be on my own so any ILXors say hi. (Or email me beforehand.)

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Wednesday, 5 April 2006 10:14 (eighteen years ago) link

one month passes...

good times good times

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Friday, 5 May 2006 03:15 (eighteen years ago) link

Konno are gonna be touring the US again soon. They're playing indie-rock club Black Cat in DC soon. Hopefully the airline will be a little more gentle with their stuff this time.

― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Friday, 5 May 2006 12:58 (eighteen years ago) link

BLACK CAT BLACK CAT

― hzjcxkl, Friday, 5 May 2006 14:05 (eighteen years ago) link

Is that guy still standing out in front of the club saying that? I love the way he says it...Wonderful intonation

― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Friday, 5 May 2006 17:02 (eighteen years ago) link

eleven months pass...

Saw them last night at the Cedar Cultural Center here in Mpls...

really amazing. people like to throw around words like "joyful" and "life-affirming" but Konono really is.

Played pretty much 2 hours STRAIGHT...one endless groove that kept morphing back into itself, sort of like dance music where a melodic or rhythmic motif from like 5 minutes ago would reappear and then fade back.

I guess the sound was a little "cleaner" than usual because their sound system hadn't arrived from Europe yet, so they went through the regular PA.

Lineup was three thumb pianos, played by Awesome Happy Frontman, Man In Black Duster Who Kinda Looked Like Blues Legend Buddy Guy, and Grumpy Older Guy.

frontwoman did endless dancing and chipped in on vocals frequently, she can really move, wow i woulda been so tired!

three drummers...one on some wooden long african drums...one guys sitting down (who wore a soccer jersey and SCARF and tuxedo pants even though it was hell hot in there), and one (the youngest looking) on a number of metal cowbell type things and some homemade looking junkyard percussion stuff....

anyway, crowd was mix of usual hippies, college kids, noise scene dudes, and old dudes in beards and John Hiatt concert t-shirts - lots of dancing, clapping along...

the music is really rich rhythmically, was impossible even for stick in the mud me not to at least bounce around a little.

great band.

have they ever done anything w/The Ex? they should, that would be so awesome, this show kinda reminded me of the The Ex.

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 26 April 2007 15:41 (seventeen years ago) link

I feel like the ex covered them a while back, but I forget?

― jaxon, Thursday, 26 April 2007 16:15 (seventeen years ago) link

they did!

― admrl, Thursday, 26 April 2007 16:21 (seventeen years ago) link

This was revealed to Alex In SF and myself by Jem Cohen at a screening of Jem Cohen's film of The Ex.

― admrl, Thursday, 26 April 2007 16:22 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah, but The Ex's cover (Theme From Konono on the second disc of Turn) is pretty goddamned bland and worthless. It's like, yeah, we like Konono too— let's make 'em sound really white!

― I eat cannibals, Thursday, 26 April 2007 16:25 (seventeen years ago) link

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